10 doors bought or sold in 7 months

[Guy Yoes]

The wife and I had been trying to move from Tulsa Ok to Springfield Mo . We have family in the area and wanted to be closer to them. We had two rentals in Tulsa and good jobs but no prospects for work in Springfield. Then, the Friday before Christmas, my neighbor approached me and asked if I wanted to sell our house to his mother. Wife and I talked it over and thought this might be our chance. 

They made a cash offer higher than appraised value (not much higher) and I wrote up a contract (selling it as is). Then it hit us, we had sold our house and didn't have one to move into and were moving in 6 weeks and neither of us had a job lined up. We started to regret our hasty decision.

We spent two weeks of Christmas break traveling back and forth to Springfield looking at houses. Nothing caught our eye and we were pretty low. On our way out of town we passed a house with a for sale sign. First thing we noticed was roofers putting on a new roof. We stopped and talked to the old lady who lived there. Her husband had died 8 weeks earlier and she was moving into a retirement center. The house was in great shape and in a good neighborhood. We offered asking price which included appliances and an awesome woodworking shop plus some minor repairs. We owned our house out right and the neighbor's mother paid cash. We made 40K after selling and buying the houses in February. (doors 1 and 2 bought and sold).

By chance I met an older couple looking to sell some of their duplexes in the Branson area. The duplexes all had long term renters paying $600.00 per month. 1400 sqf per side with 3 bd and 2 bath per side. We hit it off from the start and made a deal to buy 5 duplexes for 500K. In April we bought the first one with monies from the sale of our house. ( doors 3 and 4). In May we sold one of our rentals in Tulsa and using a 1031 we bought our second duplex (doors 5,6 and 7). 

In July, we get a contract on the last Tulsa house and using another 1031 bought another duplex (closing the end of this month) (doors 8,9 and 10).

Summary: We have been in Springfield for 7 months and a lot has happened. My wife got a great job teaching nursing at Missouri state univ. I am fully retired and working on the duplexes, plus our house and getting ready to buy the last two duplexes (another 4 doors) by the end of this year. I had previously picked up a mobile home here (I guess that's another door). We have been blessed that every door sold was profitable and every door bought has increased our income. A special thanks to @Dave Foster for his guidance and expertise in guiding us through the 1031 process. Also thanks to Bigger Pockets, I would not have been able to navigate this awesome journey without the guidance and support of all the kind and wonderful people on here! Blessings to all.